Learning Outcomes - GP

1. The philosophical belief that every behavior has a cause is known as

a.

structuralism.

b.

determinism.

c.

functionalism.

d.

solipsism.

2. To say that a test is reliable is to say that its results are

a.

replicable.

b.

parsimonious.

c.

falsifiable.

d.

valid.

3. Several studies find that among college students, use of illegal drugs is negatively correlated with grade-point average. Which conclusion, if any, do these results justify?

a.

The use of illegal drugs impairs either learning, memory, or concentration.

b.

Highly conscientious students, who are likely to do well in school, avoid illegal drugs.

c.

Students who spend their time and effort on risky activities do not spend much time studying.

d.

The results do not justify any of these conclusions.

4. Someone claims that a subliminal message "buy popcorn" in the middle of a movie increases people's likelihood of buying popcorn. Which of the following would be the best way to test that claim?

a.

Display such a message in the middle of the movie and determine whether popcorn sales are higher before the message or after it.

b.

Display such a message every day for one month, and not at all the next month. Determine whether popcorn sales are higher during the month with the message.

c.

Display such a message on some days, randomly chosen, and not others. Determine whether popcorn sales are higher on days with the message.

d.

When people buy popcorn, ask them why they are buying it and whether or not they remember any messages on the screen.

5. Which psychologists are most likely to believe that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts"?

a.

behaviorists

b.

psychoanalysts

c.

Gestalt psychologists

d.

transactional analysts

6. An experimenter asks a group of 6-year-old children to try to repeat lists of two to eight numbers or letters immediately after hearing them. Five years later the same experimenter asks the same children, now 11 years old, to repeat new lists of two to eight numbers or letters. This is an example of a

a.

cross-sectional study of long-term memory.

b.

cross-sectional study of short-term memory.

c.

longitudinal study of short-term memory.

d.

longitudinal study of long-term memory.

7. If tolerance to a drug injection is based on classical conditioning, what procedure would lead to the extinction of the tolerance?

a.

Administer electric shocks whenever the person attempts to take an injection.

b.

Take injections of a large amount of the drug as frequently as possible.

c.

Wait a long time between one injection and the next.

d.

Go through the injection procedure without the drug itself.

8. Most people who buy lottery tickets have developed the habit of doing so based on

a.

negative reinforcement.

b.

vicarious reinforcement.

c.

omission training.

d.

passive avoidance learning.

9. Going to sleep immediately after reading something may improve memory of the material. One likely explanation is that going to sleep

a.

attaches distinctive retrieval cues to the items to be remembered.

b.

increases the encoding specificity.

c.

decreases retroactive interference.

d.

takes advantage of the actor-observer effect.

10. "The magical number seven, plus or minus two" refers to the number of

a.

dreams we have each night.

b.

basic traits that exist.

c.

times people must be hypnotized before they are able to completely block out pain.

d.

items we can hold in short-term memory.

11. One difference between expert and novice chess players that has been experimentally demonstrated is

a.

experts use their frontal lobes more than novices do when playing chess.

b.

novices are more likely to have an internal locus of control.

c.

experts tend to be high self-monitors.

d.

experts recognize and remember familiar patterns better.

12. For which of the following pairs would we expect the highest correlation of IQ scores?

a.

identical twins raised together

b.

identical twins raised separately

c.

fraternal twins raised together

d.

fraternal twins raised separately

13. Which of the following questions below is NOT a question of nature vs. nurture?

a.

Are boys more aggressive than girls because of higher testosterone levels, or because of the way they are raised?

b.

Is alcoholism entirely due to social customs, or is it influenced by certain genes?

c.

Do high-IQ parents have high-IQ children because of the stimulating environment they provide, or because of the genes they pass on to their children?

d.

Do phobias develop through classical conditioning, or through observing models react to the feared stimulus?

14. A placebo would be most likely to be used in an experiment examining

a.

the role of social pressure in obedience to authority.

b.

schedules of reinforcement.

c.

the various theories of color vision.

d.

the effectiveness of a new drug treatment for schizophrenia.

15. It has been reported that people who use marijuana are more likely than other people are to commit crimes. Why is this NOT evidence that marijuana use leads to crime?

a.

It is probably a reflection of the Clever Hans effect.

b.

It states a negative correlation.

c.

It confuses correlation with causation.

d.

The results probably depend on demand characteristics.

16. Which theory states that a child grows up to be an honest person because his or her parents set an example of this virtue?

a.

Freud's theory of the unconscious

b.

social-learning theory

c.

cognitive dissonance theory

d.

James-Lange theory

17. If you want to improve your memorization of a list of words, you should avoid

a.

attaching distinctive retrieval cues to each word on the list.

b.

memorizing similar materials afterward.

c.

thinking about the meaning of each word on the list.

d.

long delays between one study session and the next.

18. The EEG can be used for what purpose?

a.

to measure the intelligence of people who do not speak English

b.

to distinguish among stages of sleep

c.

to compare an individual's personality to group norms

d.

to test a person's ability at pitch perception

19. Which of the following would be an example of intrinsic motivation?

a.

a rat pressing a bar for a food reward

b.

a child playing nicely to avoid punishment

c.

an artist painting because she enjoys painting

d.

a subject in Milgram's experiment delivering shocks to please the experimenter

20. What is the connection between obesity and genetics?

a.

We know that there is a genetic component to obesity, although social and cultural factors are also important.

b.

Social and cultural factors account for obesity; there is no genetic influence.

c.

Obesity has been traced to a gene on the X chromosome.

d.

Obesity has been traced to a gene that controls the sense of smell.

21. Which of the following statements offers the best advice for motivating productive behavior?

a.

Set your goals so high they can never be reached ; that way you will never stop trying.

b.

"I will do my best" is the most effective goal in almost all situations.

c.

Set your goals to be high but realistic, and then commit to your goals publicly.

d.

Avoid setting goals to avoid the possibility of negative feedback.

22. The impressions we form of other people are like memory, in that both social impressions and memory

a.

emphasize the first information we learn and any unusual information.

b.

become stronger and stronger as time passes.

c.

depend on the actor-observer effect.

d.

are like tape recorders that can replay the original information.

23. According to some psychologists, people with schizophrenia tend to be ambivalent--that is, they hold contradictory beliefs without distress. If that is correct, we would expect that schizophrenic people would be less influenced than most other people are by

a.

regression to the mean.

b.

the opponent-process principle in emotions.

c.

cognitive dissonance.

d.

optical illusions.

24. In Milgram's experiment on obedience to authority, he started by asking one person to deliver a mild shock to another person and then gradually worked up to more intense shocks. This procedure resembles

a.

Jung's principle of the collective unconscious.

b.

Freud's principle of catharsis.

c.

the Gestalt principle of proximity.

d.

Skinner's principle of shaping.

Learning Outcomes - GP

Answer Key

Goal i: The ability to explain and assess the relationship among assumptions, method, evidence, arguments, and theory in social and historical analysis.

1. ANS: B REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 1

2. ANS: A REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 2 | Chapter: 9

3. ANS: D REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 2

4. ANS: C REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 4 | Chapter: 2

5. ANS: C REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 4

6. ANS: C REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 5 | Chapter: 8

7. ANS: D REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 6

8. ANS: B REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 6

9. ANS: C REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 7

10. ANS: D REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 7

11. ANS: D REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 8

12. ANS: A REF: [Goal i] Chapter: 9

Goal n: The ability to apply concepts about human and social behavior to particular questions or situations.